A German pro-refugee activist group have succeeded in pushing a protest song to the top the country's iTunes chart, in a campaign against what they see as "the rampant xenophobia in Germany."
The group, who have the rather unusual name of Aktion Arschloch (Action Asshole), announced on social media on Thursday that the song had topped the chart, using the hashtag #AktionArschloch. In a statement on their website, the group said that they "[wanted] to contribute in a simple way to help refugees" by bringing the song back into the charts and on the radio.
The song, which is called "Cry For Love" was first released in 1993 by Berlin-based punk band The Doctors, who said they are happy for their song to be used along "with any other anti-Nazi song," and wished "all Nazis and their sympathisers a bad time." The band clarified that all money raised from the song's sales will go to German independent human rights organisation, Pro Asyl, which campaigns for the rights of persecuted people in Germany and Europe who have fled their own countries.
While Action Asshole admitted in a post that the song "does not meet [the refugees] own taste in music," they went on to say that, "The song has never been as relevant as now since the 90s. History repeats itself, we should play it." The group urged the public to "help refugees" by continuing to buy the song, as well as requesting it on radio stations and in nightclubs, and sharing it via social media channels.
The German government announced last month that it expects up to 800,000 asylum applications in 2015. There have been over 100 arson attacks carried out on asylum shelters according to Reuters, and on Thursday night, five people were injured after a fire broke out at a refugee shelter in the town of Heppenheim in west Germany.
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Natalie is an intern for Newsweek's London office. She writes about anything from the arts to Europe's refugee crisis. She ... Read more
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